Tag Archive for 'athens'

We live like dogs and sleep in shifts

“We live like dogs and sleep in shifts”

detained-immigrants-grece

“We could die without anyone even learning about it. It is our fifth day on hunger strike in the detention facilities of the Police Station of Moshato. We live like dogs”, says Armen Mourantian: “We sleep in shifts in a room full of dirt. Six people sharing three mattresses. Three full rooms. In the fourth one, which is the largest, they have cornered more than 15 people”.

5th day of hunger strike in the detention facilities for immigrants in Moshato

It was already past midnight when the young Armenian made a phone call to ‘E’ in order to make a plea for help. “This moment we are aloud to make phone calls. We were arrested by men of DIAS group [special police group on motorbikes] in the street. Our papers were expired. None of us has been charged with theft or any felonies. We are held for 7-8 months with a deportation decision”. Continue reading ‘We live like dogs and sleep in shifts’

AI & MSF: Syria refugees in Greece face lack of ‘humanitarian’ help

Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International lashed out on Thursday at Greece’s treatment of Syrian refugees fleeing their war-ravaged homeland, with many locked up as illegal immigrants or reportedly facing police brutality.

“There is a total lack of a humanitarian response and solidarity” in Greece towards Syrian asylum-seekers, Willem de Jonge, general director of Doctors Without Borders in Greece, told AFP on the sidelines of a press conference.

Continue reading ‘AI & MSF: Syria refugees in Greece face lack of ‘humanitarian’ help’

REUTERS: Fleeing war, Syrians face new misery in Greece

(Reuters) – Syrian shopkeeper Osama fled the fighting in Aleppo convinced he would be welcomed in Europe. Five months later, he is stuck in near-bankrupt Greece, where money and sympathy are scarce.

Beaten up and robbed by traffickers when they arrived in Athens, Osama, his wife and two children were arrested as illegal immigrants and thrown into detention when they recounted their ordeal to Greek police. Ordered out of Greece but without any place to go, he rues the day he set foot in the country.

“All our hope is now in God. There is a war in Syria and the country has been destroyed,” said the 35-year-old as he sat in a dingy Athens basement apartment with a Syrian flag on the wall.

“In Greece, we have had the most bitter experiences and we cannot go to another country. We have no money, no IDs or passports to travel. We are trapped here.”

Greek authorities say police are obliged to arrest people who enter the country illegally.
Continue reading ‘REUTERS: Fleeing war, Syrians face new misery in Greece’

Senegalese street vendor died during police operation in Athens, by demotix

An immigrant from Senegal died falling from a height, on the rails of the subway in Thiseio station in central Athens, during an operation of Municipal Police to remove peddlers from tourist area.

A big operation of Municipal Police started on Friday afternoon on the touristic area of Thiseio, in central Athens, to remove immigrants from the streets, who work as peddlers to live. During this operation Cheikh Babacar Ndiaye a 37 years old immigrant from Senegal, was chased and he died falling from a height, on the rails of the subway in Thiseio station.1359782980-immigrant-dies-during-police-operation-in-athens_1765433 From the blood seen on the pictures possibly his death resulted from the fall.
Subway metro services were disrupted for at least two hours. First aid assistants removed the body of the immigrant from the rails. Meanwhile his friends gathered at the station, together with other people from Senegal.
Some of them mourned, but when they saw the stretcher with the dead body they began to shout and protest. Some of them they shouted that Police is racists. Riot police arrived immediately and attacked the gathered people, and cleared the area around the station. At the same moment of the attack the dead body of immigrant was moved to an ambulance and left the area, for an unknown and undeclared direction, in spite of the questions made ​​on this.

Source with foto reportage: demotix (in english)

Syrian refugees detained in Petrou Ralli (Athens) and Aspropirgos in hunger strike!

They demand freedom and political asylum. Some of the hunger strikers are more than 15 months in detention!

roz karta (in greek)

“Xenios Dias”-sweep continues: New police raid in Athens centre

On Saturday 26th of January 2013, 152 migrants were temporarily arrested in Attica – most of them street vendors whose whares were confiscated.

Until that date police during “Xenios Dias operation” which lasts already since August 4th, 2012:

- temporarily arrested 73.100 migrants
- of whom 4.352 were finally arrested due to lacking residence permits
- 519 homes were searched
and 2.373 women were temporarily arrested for prostitution (migrant and non) of whom it remains unclear how many had to stay in detention and how many were falsely arrested.

i-efimerida (in greek)
preza tv (in greek)

Cold blooded Murder of an immigrant yesterday in Athens

A young male from Pakistan aged 27 was murdered yesterday late in the morning at approximately 3.30am, at the area of Petralona in the centre of Athens. The perpetrators were two Greek men aged 28 and 24 years old. The young Pakistani was attacked with a knife and died shortly afterwards. After the murder the two men tried to ride away on their motorbike, but the neighbours and eyewitness of the murder kept track of their license plates, they were arrested soon thereafter near Syntagma square by the Police. Anti-racist organizations are calling for a protest in the neighbourhood today in the afternoon. Police still didnt make any official statement concerning the perpretator’s motivation but everyone in the area is talking about a racist murder.
According to some recent news the perpetrators attacked the man because he had not given them priority (who were riding a motorbike) while he was riding his bicycle.

dawnofthegreeks (in english)

ethnos (in greek)
left.gr (in greek)
newsbomb (in greek)

The tourists held by Greek police as illegal migrants, By Chloe Hadjimatheou / BBC

Greek police have stepped up efforts to catch illegal immigrants in recent months, launching a new operation to check the papers of people who look foreign. But tourists have also been picked up in the sweeps – and at least two have been badly beaten.

When Korean backpacker Hyun Young Jung was stopped by a tall scruffy looking man speaking Greek on the street in central Athens he thought it might be some kind of scam, so he dismissed the man politely and continued on his way.
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A few moments later he was stopped again, this time by a man in uniform who asked for his documents. But as a hardened traveller he was cautious.
Continue reading ‘The tourists held by Greek police as illegal migrants, By Chloe Hadjimatheou / BBC’

Gathering outside of Korydalos prison – 31st December 2012

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Syrian refugees arriving on Lesvos and in Athens in 2012 / Al Jazeera

The infomobile

... is like a “paper boat”. We chose this as a metaphor for what we want to create and for the situation of refugees and migrants in Greece. The paper boat is a folded boat able to swim – for a while. Then you have to build a new one to go on travelling. A paper boat is symbolic for the journey of life, vulnerable but in your own hands and to be recreated again and again. It is simple, but it carries many hopes and dreams. It can dance on a turbulent sea. It belongs to everybody. And it might become the small version – like a first draft – of a welcome-space.

Get in touch

email: infomobile.w2eu@gmail.com

RSS Clandestina

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